First of all, I would like to thank everyone who replied to the first chapter. Reviews are a great motivators to actually sit down and write some more.

Since I got quite a few questions and remarks about the last chapter, I would like to clarify something.

A lot of what you consider strange behavior, or foolish, is actually done with a purpose in mind.

Now. I will admit, I very well may make mistakes where I introduce something, and it may end up being foolish in retrospect. However, all the things brought up in the reviews so far, were actually planned and well thought out. I didn't give you answers yet because things will come together in their due time.

Also, bear in mind. The first chapter was some 3,000 words. So there wasn't much room to build things into the story yet. Some of the major questions, some, are answered in this chapter. I would say getting a slew of questions answered in 7-8k words in a normal novel is quite reasonable.

As for power levels, all I will ask is one question. What need has there been so far for Naruto to be strong? He is far from weak, even with his chakra sealed. If you dislike that, I will remind you of a spandex wearing ninja who doesn't even use chakra, and can kick ass like no tomorrow. Naruto still has a lot going for him. And yes, there are reasons and justifications for his actions.

Anyways, I hope that addresses some of the concerns.

The Path between Humans and Demons

Chapter 2: Accord

Edited 12/20/2011

"Let me get this straight. The girls turned into fish monsters and tried to eat you?"

Tsukune nodded, looking totally worn out just thinking of the experience. Naruto shook his head and placed a companionable hand on the kid's shoulder. "Welcome to the club kid. A club where the gods like to see you squirm as you get thrown ass first into situations way over your head."

Naruto grinned, trying to break the tension. "Hey. Look at it this way. Maybe you'll make it long enough to see the next poor fool get sacrificed for some god's sick sense of humor. Trust me, it's a real laugh to watch."

The boy gave him a dirty look, and Naruto just picked at his ear, not really worried about what a softie like Tsukune could do to him. Tsukune sighed, giving it up. "Well, what about you Naruto-san? Have you chosen a club to join?"

The ninja leaned back in his chair, putting his feet up on the desk. "Nah. Sensei wants us to learn how to blend in with humans more. As I see it, I'm good there. You can keep your newspaper club. I plan to just enjoy myself when I can."

"You couldn't blend in if you tried," Tsukune deadpanned.

"What was that?" Naruto shot to his feet, but stopped yelling when he heard the door to the classroom slide open.

Moka-chan and Kurumu came in, talking animatedly to one another until they saw him in the room. At his tiny wave, the vampire smiled and greeted him while the other girl just ignored him. He held back a sigh at her cold behavior as she made her way to sit next to Tsukune. After greeting the boy with a bright smile, she finally deemed to give Naruto a dirty look. "Shouldn't you be leaving Uzumaki-san? We're about to start our club meeting, and you're not invited."

Naruto put on a smile, at least partially used to her ribbing after the past few weeks. He wasn't sure what he had done to anger the girl, but he was intent on breaking through her animosity eventually. "Just about to leave, Kurumu-chan." The girl snorted and turned to stare out the window, obviously deciding it wasn't worth it to rib him anymore.

He wondered if he would ever understand that girl.

Giving it up as a bad job, he stood and grabbed his bag to leave. Before he could reach the door though, it opened, letting Nekonome-sensei and a senior student into the room. Naruto had to resist the urge to groan when he saw the other student. A real pretty boy, standing there with a bouqet of flowers and what he seemed to think was a winning smile. He was glad to see that Moka-chan was oblivious to his obvious interest in her, and he could have sworn he saw Kurumu roll her eyes at the new guy.

As the new guy introduced himself to Moka-chan, Nekonome-sensei came over and smiled at him. "Naruto-kun. Have you decided to join the newspaper club?" Her smile and wagging tail made him feel bad to tell her no.

"Sorry, sensei. I was just visiting some friends before I went back to the dorms. I'll get out of your way." He tried to leave when she shook her head at him.

"Wait a moment, Naruto-kun. I'd like you to meet your senpai." Forcing a smile to his face over the less than agreeable idea, Naruto turned around.

The boy had pressed his flowers into Moka-chan's arms, and kept sprouting some garbage at her until sensei was forced to tap him on the shoulder to get his attention. With a short look at Naruto, the boy turned around to start talking to Moka-chan again.

A moment later, and sporting a series of claw marks as well as a healthy fear for the teacher, the boy was facing Naruto and holding out a hand to shake. "The name is Gin. What brings my tiny little kouhai here? Thinking of joining the club, Naruto-kun? I have to warn you, if you're here just to talk to pretty girls, that won't do. We're a serious club, and I can't have you distracting them." While he was talking, Naruto could feel the boy increasing the pressure in his grip, causing more than a few bones to groan in protest. It was only through a slight application of chakra that he managed to avoid having anything break in his hand.

And the kouhai talk. This guy was acting like a rutting Inuzuka alpha male, the way he was trying to protect his 'territory'. Besides, the only reason this brat was his senpai was because that bastard headmaster had manufactured a lame ass excuse to keep him in the first year classes with Tsukune. No doubt he wanted to keep his human pets together.

Still, Naruto didn't let his feelings show. "Just visiting my friend Tsukune here. I'm hurt that you would think I would get in the way, senpai." Gin looked at him for a split second, and the tension in the room rose before it suddenly disappeared behind the other student's smile.

As he made his way over to talk to Tsukune, the blonde made a one handed seal before reaching into his pocket for the key to his locker. Infusing it with a touch of lightning chakra, he made sure to slip by Gin on his way out of the room, dropping the key into his back pocket.

Saying goodbye to sensei he began to make his way down the hallway until he heard a large yelp come from the classroom. Naruto grinned. Those metal chairs could be pretty dangerous to sit on when you are carrying along a bit of extra charge.

The moon was beautiful tonight.

Naruto hated sitting still. To be more accurate, he hated the feeling that he wasn't working towards his goals somehow. The few times he enjoyed the relative peace was when he was in the middle of nature. Normally a moon this large and clear would help him work out his trouble. Only this time it made him feel a bit sad to watch it.

He just wasn't sure what to do with himself anymore.

The past few weeks here at the Youkai academy had been interesting enough. He had made a few friends with the people here, as well as a few enemies of sorts. While he had always been a bit of a hot head, he looked downright passive compared to a few of his classmates. The things he heard them saying about humans honestly made him wonder if this school was doing any good. Maybe they would never hunt down a human, but as monsters, they held a pretty low opinion about humans. According to them, all humans were good for was to be ruled by the monsters, or to be food. In a way, Naruto was thankful that human weaponry had advanced enough to give the monsters pause.

Still, it was funny in that laugh until you cry sort of way. When he was a kid, he was looked down on because people saw him as a demon. Now if people knew he was a human, they would be after him as well.

At least there were a few people he felt comfortable around.

The day to day Moka-chan was one of them. If he hadn't met her alter ego, he would have trouble believing she was actually a vampire. He was convinced the girl didn't have a mean bone in her body when she was in that state. Hell, she could make Hinata look like she had a mean streak in comparison. Whenever he talked to her, it was like he was watching over a younger sister.

A younger sister with a psychotic vampire sealed inside her. In a way that made him feel a bit closer to the girl, but only slightly. It was obvious the bond between Moka-chan and her inner vampire was different what his own had been. For one, it seemed more like the two girls shared one body, giving the inner self a chance to stretch her legs on occasion. That, and their relationship seemed far more friendly.

Though, his own relationship with Moka-chan's tenant was far less pleasant. Not that he didn't deserve it for the way he treated her when he first arrived here. He had been slightly confused when coming out of his forced sleep, and taunting her had helped him focus on something else while his mind caught up to what was going on. Well, there was also the fact that she reminded him of a lot of the stiffs he had known back in Konoha. A few choice words, and you could throw them off their game pretty easily.

As for Tsukune, he was a good guy. He had ended up in a crappy situation, but he was handling it pretty well. In a way, he related to him. He had always had a habit for ending up in situations well over his head, and Tsukune was showing the same penchant for coming out relatively unharmed. He even had the same saving people problem as Naruto.

That earned him some serious points in the ninja's books. He didn't have a demon inside of his belly looking out for his health. It took some serious guts to get the hots for a vampire and to keep up with the trouble she brought with her.

The one he just couldn't understand was Kurumu. Every time he looked at her, it was like he had some sort of niggling thought in the back of his head he couldn't quite grasp. It would be easy to ignore though, if he was sure that she actually hated him so much. Occasionally he would catch her smiling along with the rest when he told the others a joke. Or she would stare at him just a touch longer than was normal when she thought he wouldn't notice. The worst part was she was not a mean girl by any means. Most of the time she came across as very nice and caring, and that made her behavior all the more puzzling.

Groaning, he leaned back until he was flat against the school's rooftop. "The whole thing is so not worth the effort."

Taking a deep breath, he continued to stare at the moon, looking for some insight on what to do.

His thoughts were broken, though, when he heard the sound of something going on somewhere nearby. Standing up, he was about to try and sense where the disturbance was taking place when the answer jumped out at him. Whatever was going on, it involved Moka-chan's inner self coming out, and that energy was hard to miss.

"I guess that's my cue," he muttered, disappearing in a swirl of leaves.

Moka cursed her fortune. If only this wretch had attacked them an hour earlier, she would have been able to combat him when the moon had been hidden by cloud cover. Now that those treacherous clouds had moved on, she was forced to face this cretin when he had an unadulterated view of the moon.

To think that such a lowly creature would be able to make a mockery of her like this.

She caught his form moving from the corner of her eye, and attempted a spinning hook kick in the hopes to catch him as he came at her from behind. It was for naught though when she felt him duck under the attack and back away once more.

"Ohhh," a new voice called out, "I'm sorry Oba-san, but I'm going to have to give you a 2 out of 10 on form for that one. He dodged it by a mile."

Moka groaned, spinning around, afraid to see the one person she hadn't wanted to appear. And yet there he was. Standing on the roof to the stair enclosure, Naruto was watching their fight with an annoying grin on his face. A part of her wished to go up their and wipe that smile off his face. This was a fight for her dignity, and was not some spectacle for his amusement!

Before she could demand that he leave, the wolf before her howled its anger to the heavens. "Uzumaki! I thought we had an understanding you and I. You wouldn't interrupt my time with my club mates."

Naruto raised a hand and waggled a finger at Gin, as if scolding a child. "Now now mutt. I wasn't going to interrupt your club. But all I see right now is a dog who thinks he is the alpha and has his choice of bitches. Normally I'd pound you on the principal alone, but I think Oba-san over there is more than enough to show you who is the leader of the pack."

Moka raised an eyebrow at the surprisingly chivalrous display from the blonde, but stayed her questions in lieu of keeping an eye on her opponent. The werewolf howled again, this time devolving into laughter as he turned to face Moka once more, his eyes glazed slightly in his lust. "No one will get in the way of our special moment!" Sparing a quick glance at Uzumaki once more, she saw he truly had no intention to help her. While that suited her pride, she was becoming forced to admit that she would fair much better if he would lend her his strength.

Ducking to avoid the opening swipe from the werewolf's claws, she was quickly pressed into defense. All the while, she tried her best to ignore Uzumaki's incessent comments and so called humorous remarks on her fighting prowess. She was certainly NOT getting slower with old age. It was this beast that was remarkably fast and agile. And she had no idea who this Tsunade person was that he kept calling her, though she hoped that the person had injured the blonde in the past.

Jumping to avoid a particularly vicious kick from the werewolf, she cursed her lapse in judgement. In the air, she lacked the mobility to defend herself properly. Sensing his opportunity, Gin jumped behind her, a claw drawn back to strike her down. She attempted to twist her body to meet the blow in time, though she knew she would never make it.

Yet all she felt was the air as his strike kicked up as it narrowly missed her.

Landing in a crouch, she struggled to control her panting. At this rate, she was sure to lose this battle.

"You know," Uzumaki began, causing both combatants to halt, "it seems kind of stupid to go and fight a faster opponent out in the open. Just saying."

Moka prepared a retort when the validity of his statement struck her. She felt the fool for not thinking of such a solution earlier. Still, it appeared as if the werewolf would not allow their battle to stray elsewhere. His roar was ferocious as he glared at the blonde. "As if I'll let her escape me while her friends are here!" The wolf rushed Tsukune, and Moka felt a blossoming of fear in her chest for the first time. As a simple human, Tsukune possessed no hope of escaping the tearing claws and teeth of Gin. Yet as he came within striking distance, a strong breeze destroyed the beasts footing, sending him end over end into the walls surrounding the stairway.

"Back in my day," Uzumaki began with a voice even and without any humor, "wolves were thought to have a sense of honor. Stop embarrassing yourself. Unless you want me to come down there, you best face Moka alone and leave the others out of this." The way he spoke sent chills down the vampires spine. She was unaccustomed to feeling fear from any other creature. As a vampire, there were precious few who could challenge her. Yet this man was a complete mystery. Though he acted the fool one moment, he could quickly switch to a more powerful persona. An unknown factor in this fight, using youjutsu she could not even begin to recognize. She had no doubts that he could easily defeat Gin if he so desired.

Gin let out a frustrated growl and whirled to face Moka once more. Without waiting for him to attack, she ran to the side of the building, launching herself towards and through a window the led to the abandoned hallways of the school. She could hear his angry howls from behind her, though she didn't wait for him. She was already moving as he joined her inside the school.

Uzumaki had been correct in his guess. While Gin still possessed greater speed than her, the wolf was forced to scramble in order to make the corners, and had to sacrifice speed for a steady footing.

Racing down a long corridor, she let the beast gain on her, building his sense of confidence. Just as he was almost upon her, she turned a corner and came to a halt. Claws digging into the ground, the wolf struggled to make the turn with her, but was unable to steady himself before she launched a powerful sidekick into his sternum.

Before he could recover, she spun around, throwing her hips into a spinning roundhouse kick that sent Gin flying down the hallway. At the end of the hallway he struck a window, flying through with the shards of glass to land in the courtyard below. The strength of her blows had taken the fight out of the wolf, and the landing seemingly rendered him unconscious.

She jumped to the ground below, seeing that Uzumaki was already standing there with Tsukune and the succubus. His face was exceptionally grim as he stared at the wolf. When he finally looked up, she gave him the briefest of nods, giving her thanks for his advice. She was treated to a very weak smile in return as he turned away.

"I have to go now," the blonde said. His head turned so he was facing Tsukune slightly, "As I said, welcome to the club." His face looked both sad and angry. Yet before anyone could question it, he disappeared in a swirl of leaves.

While the others were staring at the space the mysterious Uzumaki had disappeared from, Moka strode forward and took the rosary from Tsukune's slack hand. Someday she too would have to ponder on the enigma that was Uzumaki. It confused her, how someone could go from being so carefree to looking like an old soul that had seen far too much.

And Moka hated to be confused.

Naruto's fist left an indent on the tree before him. He could feel the blood running over his knuckles from where he had torn skin. Focusing on his breathing, he tried to calm himself. Around him, nearly a half dozen trees lay destroyed from his attempts to vent his frustrations.

He had been outwardly calm enough while Moka fought Gin. Inside he had been boiling over. He was still an outsider in this place. If he coddled people and fought their battles for them, they would never survive any future challenges this place would throw at them. Yet, while that had seemed like a great decision when he originally came up with it, following through on it was difficult. Very difficult. That had been the hardest part of being a kage. Letting others fight their own battles.

Seeing some fool try to kill, and possibly rape, a friend of his had nearly sent him over the edge. He had fought for peace to return to the world, and instead he came back to this crap. A world where people had to fight day to day just to survive.

Naruto sent another punch into the tree in front of him, ignoring the snap as bones broke in his hand.

He really wondered what it was that convinced him to break the seal that kept him sleeping all those years. Whatever it was, it must have been important, only now he had forgotten it like a half remembered dream. And even if he chose to use the seal again, it would be another year before his body could accept the seals once more.

Not that he would use them. While there was a part of him that didn't want to be reminded of the pain this sort of life brought with it, he would not abandon his new friends. Tsukune was a good guy. A good guy who was in over his head, and Naruto felt responsible to be there to see him through this mess.

The ninja stiffened when he heard someone coming. Turning around, he saw Kurumu enter the clearing slowly, eyes wide as she took in the small swath of destruction.

"Is there something I can help you with, Kurumu-san?" He kept his voice even, not really feeling up to starting another fight with her.

"Did something..." she starting, looking a bit shaken before she changed tact. "Are you alright?"

The one time Hokage let out a long breath before kneeling down to place a hand on one of the destroyed tree trunks. Imbuing it with basic medical chakra, the only sort he was at all proficient with, he avoided the question. Instead he focused on trying to repair the damage he caused. Back in his days, newly minted chuunin would learn this revitalization technique and practice it on all the tree's around the village. It wasn't a mokuton jutsu, but it helped the trees grow back marginally faster.

Once he finished, he looked up to see Kurumu still standing there, looking uncomfortable as she waited for an answer. He stood up, crossing his arms while looking at the succubus. "Does it really matter to you, Kurumu-san? I thought you couldn't care less what happened to me."

The girl winced, and opted to sit down with her back to one of the trees ringing the edge of the clearing, not really looking at Naruto. "I've not been that bad, have I?" Her voice was soft and hesitant, giving him the impression she already knew the answer to that question.

Naruto sighed, letting go of some of his hostility. "Kurumu-chan, I saved your life. I stepped into a fight that I had no understanding of to try and protect you, and you respond by hitting me and trying to get me in trouble with the teachers here. I would say you have been incredibly clear in your dislike of me." He sat down on a log, waiting for her to look up and make eye contact with her. "What's the deal. I know you're not that cruel. I've seen how you interact with others, and you're not the queen bitch type. What did I do to earn the attitude?"

The succubus flushed a bit, breaking eye contact in the interest of staring at the root near his feet. "Its not that I don't appreciate your help. I just wish you hadn't. It just made everything that much more difficult."

Naruto raised his eyebrow, not sure what she was getting out. Kurumu fidgeted. "Most men," she began, "would fall over themselves to try and please me. It is part of being a succubus, and I'm used to it. I even liked it for awhile. It's part of who I am. Like air and water, succubi draw power from love and adoration. Both giving and receiving it. So when Moka-san started to steal that from me, I was desperate and angry and not thinking straight. So I tried to steal Tsukune from her."

The blue haired girl ran a hand through her hair in a nervous gesture. He could see the conversation wasn't easy on her, but Naruto didn't want to give her any reason to stop by saying something.

"It didn't matter how hard I tried to enthrall him. In the end, he wouldn't completely abandon Moka-san. Normally my gift would have men drop everything to be with me in that situation. Instead of seeing it as something special and amazing, I saw it as just another thing Moka-san was taking from me. So I attacked both of them, hoping to remove the competition."

"What I did was horrible, and I could have killed Moka-san or Tsukune! And then you had to come along and save me. You protected me from my own stupidity." The girl was crying now. "I didn't deserve your help. I almost killed two people because of my vanity! I'm a succubus, but I never felt like a monster until that day."

The girl's crying became full blown sobs, her knees drawing up into her chest as she let the tears flow. Naruto had a sad smile on his face. He finally understood what it was he had done to the girl. It was silly of her, but she thought he had kept her from getting the punishment she felt she deserved.

Naruto moved to her side, not really touching her, but staying close enough that she knew he was there for her. Finally her tears began to ebb, and he waited for her to compose herself before saying anything.

"You know Kurumu-chan," he began softly, "I think it was a good thing that you attacked those two." The girl gave him a shocked look, but he went on. "In my village, we were trained to be soldiers. I was eight when they first started training me to fight, and I entered the ranks when I was twelve. While my village was the most peaceful, we were still taught to make light of death. We were true monsters."

The ninja smiled at Kurumu. "But things are different here. You're being taught how to co-exist with others. Besides, you're a succubus. From the sound of things, you are meant to want attention from men. When Moka-san threatened that, you reacted. Its as natural a thing as fighting for food when starved. Lucky for you, no one got hurt this time, but it taught you an important lesson. It taught you how to control those urges, and shows that you're no monster if it bothers you this much."

"Besides," here he shot her a grin, "you're far too cute to worry over what could have been."

Kurumu blushed, and lightly elbowed his side. "You're incorrigable." She looked at him again, "Thanks. You're right, though. I need to learn to control myself, and I shouldn't have let my own shame give me an excuse to take things out on you." She bowed her head slightly, "I'm sorry, Naruto."

He waved her off, and the two sat quietly for a few moments. Seeing she wasn't going to say anything more at the moment, Naruto coughed, grabbing her attention. "So. What brought you out here?"

"Oh! I'm sorry, I totally forgot about that. Tsukune wanted me to come thank you while he looked after Moka-san's injuries. And I suppose I was curious too. You didn't look very happy at the end of the fight..." she trailed off here, looking at the damage in the clearing.

"I was a little angry..." Naruto deadpanned, and Kurumu didn't seem inclined to press the matter right now.

"It's a good thing no one but Gin were seriously injured," the girl went on, "though I'm surprised you didn't step in to help. I think Tsukune is a bit disappointed you didn't."

"I won't always be there to fight their battles. I learned a long time ago that if you don't let your friends fight their own battles, they'll never grow strong enough to protect you when you're not there for them." Naruto tried to not sound bitter, but evidently he failed, because Kurumu laid a hand on his forearm. Smiling at her, the blonde ignored the pain in his chest.

"So, out of curiosity, why do you always make fun of Inner-Moka when she appears?"

Naruto grinned. "She reminds me of a few people I knew back home. She has the strength and temper of one person I knew, and a stick so far up her"

"I get it!" Kurumu yelled, interrupting him. Her face was red with embarrassment as she stood up in a huff. "I don't need that sort of image in my head!" The succubus sighed and reached a hand down to help him up. "You must have driven your friends crazy back home."

"All the time," Naruto agreed. "And I have the head trauma to prove it too."

Kurumu rolled her eyes. "Come on. We should be getting back."

With that, the two of them made their way back to the school, separating at the end to go to their dorms. As Naruto lay back on his bed, he couldn't help but smile. Maybe there was some hope that peace could be had after all.

Whew. I'm sure the chapter could use a fine tooth comb read through and edit, but as I've said, this is all about having fun. I like to do a fine read through a week or two down the line. And since I didn't want to keep people waiting, here you go. Besides, this is something to keep me from being bored.

And there we go, a peaceful accord between Kurumu and Naruto at last. Well, peaceful enough until he does something stupid, I suppose. I guess they will be having a lot of tiny spats.

As for Gin, I suspect a will get a few people upset with how I portrayed him. All I will say is that, at the root of things, he was trying to kill Tsukune and take Moka for his own in the manga. He was far from a gentle or generous person in the original story. (Along with almost everyone else. Anyone notice a pattern of "Monster tries to kill me, then joins the harem/group of friends"? With friends like that...)

The next chapter will likely have more humor to it. As something of a sneak peak, I will say that a certain Public Safety committee member is going to have a rough few weeks. Maybe after that chapter I will start winding up for the first real important set of events I have in mind.

Please review, it is great motivation.

Peace!

~ Ryl